Most Popular
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Yoon rejects Lee's proposal for pension reform talks
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US girding for possibility of N. Korea taking most provocative military actions in decade near election: NBC
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Chonnam international student found dead
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Tax-payers shouldering most of burden for pension childbirth credit programs
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Ottogi heir joins family business in US
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Korea signs off on new med school quotas
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NewJeans drops new album amid Hybe-Ador dispute
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6 out of 10 Koreans don’t plan to have babies
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Arrest warrant issued for embattled popera star Kim Ho-joong
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Income, education level increased for arranged international marriage: report
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Kim set to be anointed party chief
Celebrating the centenary of the late North Korea founder Kim Il-sung’s birth on Sunday, Pyongyang is holding a series of political events this week with a planned rocket launch between Thursday and Monday.As the first step, North Korea seems to have formally promoted Kim Jong-un to the reclusive state’s ruling party chief at the rare Workers’ Party conference on Wednesday, analysts said.The Workers’ Party is one of the two major political gatherings the North had announced it would hold in mid-
April 11, 2012
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N. Korea’s young leader named to new top party post
Celebrating the centenary of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung’s birth on Sunday, Pyongyang is holding a series of political events this week with a planned rocket launch between Thursday and Monday.As a first step, North Korea formally promoted Kim Jong-un to the top post of first secretary of the Workers’ Party at a rare conference on Wednesday.The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said Kim’s late father Kim Jong-il was also named “eternal general secretary” of the Workers’ Party. Th
April 11, 2012
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Kim Jong-un officially named first secretary of the Workers’ Party
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was named to what appears to be a top post in the ruling Workers' Party at a special political conference Wednesday, while his late father was declared its ``eternal'' general secretary. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects a military unit in this undated photo. (Yonhap News)The state-run Korean Central News Agency reported the first details from the secretive p
April 11, 2012
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Starts fueling rocket; launch possible anytime
By Kim Yoon-mi and news reportsNorth Korea is likely to launch its “satellite” rocket between Thursday and Monday, despite repeated warnings by the U.S. and its allies.Paek Chang-ho, head of the satellite control center of the Korean Committee of Space Technology, told reporters in Pyongyang that the North started fueling the rocket on Wednesday. He did not make it clear when the fueling would be complete but analysts said it could take eight hours. Unlike the Musudan-ri launching facility in th
April 11, 2012
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‘Nazi-style holocaust possible in N. Korea’s prison camps’
WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― Shin Dong-hyuk, born and raised in a North Korean concentration camp, on Tuesday appealed for the world to care more about the ongoing tragedy of political prisoners in the communist nation.He warned that a Holocaust-style slaughter could occur there any time if people outside continue to turn a deaf ear to the testimony of defectors.“There is a place I always visit whenever I come to Washington D.C. It’s the Holocaust Memorial Museum. Watching video footage, I imagine
April 11, 2012
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N. Korea missile tech a 'concern': U.S. commander
North Korea's increasingly sophisticated missile technology is a concern to Asia and the United States, the new U.S. Pacific commander said Wednesday ahead of Pyongyang's planned rocket launch."We have seen over time the North Koreans pursue increasingly sophisticated ballistic missile defense technologies," Admiral Samuel Locklear, the head of the U.S. Pacific Command based in Hawaii, said in Tok
April 11, 2012
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NK starts fueling rocket; launch possible anytime
North Korea is likely to launch its “satellite” rocket between Thursday and Monday, despite repeated warnings by the U.S. and its allies.Paek Chang-ho, head of the satellite control center of the Korean Committee of Space Technology, told reporters in Pyongyang that the North started fueling the rocket on Wednesday. He did not make it clear when the fueling would be complete but analysts said it could take eight hours. Unlike the Musudan-ri launching facility in the northeast of the peninsula, t
April 11, 2012
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Nazi-style holocaust possible in N. Korea's prison camps: ex-inmate
Shin Dong-hyuk, born and raised in a North Korean concentration camp, on Tuesday appealed for the world to care more about the ongoing tragedy of political prisoners in the communist nation.He warned that a Holocaust-style slaughter could occur there any time if people outside continue to turn a deaf ear to the testimony of defectors."There is a place I always visit whenever I come to Washington D
April 11, 2012
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Regional powers discuss post-launch steps
The United States and Japan agreed Tuesday to take “appropriate action” against North Korea if it presses ahead with a ballistic rocket launch.“We will be pursuing appropriate action,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters after bilateral talks with her Japanese counterpart, Koichiro Gemba, who is visiting for a G-8 foreign ministerial meeting. She did not elaborate.Clinton underscored
April 11, 2012
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U.N. to act swiftly to N.K. rocket launch: sources
Pyongyang officials say ready to launch what is believed to be intercontinental ballistic missileIf North Korea goes ahead with its planned rocket launch between April 12 and 16, the U.N. Security Council is to immediately convene and discuss the issue, sources said Tuesday.North Korean officials told reporters in Pyongyang Tuesday that they have completed preparations to put the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite into orbit by launching the Unha-3 rocket in Dongchang-ri, located in the northwest part o
April 10, 2012
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North Korea says satellite set to be installed on rocket on Tuesday
North Korea is set to complete the assembly of its latest rocket by installing the satellite payload later Tuesday, a senior space official said."We are expecting to complete assembly by today," Ryu Kum-Chol, deputy director of the space development department at the communist state's Committee for Space Technology, told foreign journalists in Pyongyang. Ryu also insisted that debris from the laun
April 10, 2012
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Hundreds of N. Koreans awarded prizes ahead of founder’s centennial birthday
More than 640 North Koreans have been awarded state prizes or medals, Pyongyang’s media reported Tuesday, as the North seeks to further consolidate power of its new young leader Kim Jong-un.Kim, believed to be in his late 20s, took over the communist country after his father and long-time leader Kim Jong-il died in December. The North has since been stepping up efforts to boost the image and power of the new leader.The North conferred the Order of Kim Il-sung to 119 soldiers and officials as wel
April 10, 2012
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S. Korea braces for N. Korean rocket launch
With North Korea’s rocket launch imminent, the South Korean government is taking steps to deal with it in coordination with other countries.Cheong Wa Dae is in close consultation with foreign affairs and security-related government agencies including the Defense Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, the Unification Ministry and the National Intelligence Agency.The Defense Ministry is reportedly conducting mock drills to intercept the North Korean rocket in case the North fails to put a satellite into
April 9, 2012
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North Korea should learn from China, foreign minister says
South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said North Korea could become a strong and prosperous country not by military provocations but by opening up to the outside world, just as its major ally China did.“North Korea cannot become a power state by enhancing military power and conducting provocations. China has achieved marvelous economic growth, becoming one of the leaders in the international community by reforms and opening up,” Kim said in a speech in Shanghai in celebration of the 20th a
April 9, 2012
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N. Korea’s political prisons under international scrutiny
WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― A forum on North Korea’s political prisoner camps will be held in Washington this week, reflecting the international community’s growing interest in its human rights situation, organizers said Sunday.After focusing heavily on tackling the communist neighbor’s nuclear program, South Korea’s conservative government has been increasingly vocal in efforts to address the human rights issue.Activists in South Korea, the U.S. and other nations are also stepping up their campa
April 9, 2012
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N. Korea confers top honor to late leader Kim Jong-il
North Korea has conferred its highest honor to late leader Kim Jong-il for laying an eternal foundation for the country’s prosperity.The Supreme People’s Assembly posthumously awarded the Order of Kim Il-sung to Kim Jong-il on March 29 by “reflecting the unanimous will and desire of all the service personnel and people,” the Korean Central News Agency said Monday.The rubber-stamp parliament praised Kim for making the country a nuclear state and a country that manufactured and launched satellites
April 9, 2012
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N. Korea's rocket fueling imminent
North Korea is expected to begin fueling a long-range rocket soon, the final step toward its launch set for as early as this week, a South Korean official said Monday."North Korea has only fueling remaining after completing the installation of three stages of boosters on a launch pad," the official said on condition of anonymity. "Fueling is expected to begin soon, considering it usually takes two
April 9, 2012
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N. Korea prepping for nuclear test: intelligence official
(Yonhap) -- North Korea is believed to be gearing up for a nuclear test, an intelligence official said Sunday, a move certain to fuel the already high tensions over its planned long-range rocket launch. Satellite images show the communist nation digging a new tunnel underground in the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the country's northeast, where it conducted two previous nuclear tests, first in
April 9, 2012
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China troubled by N.K. rocket launch plan
Third nuclear test possible after rocket launch: sourceChina’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Sunday that Beijing is “troubled” by North Korea’s planned rocket launch, after having a trilateral meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts in the Chinese city of Ningbo. “We considered and exchanged views about the situation on the Korean peninsula, including the announcement by the DPRK that they plan to launch a satellite,” Yang told reporters at a press briefing in Ningbo. DPRK is
April 8, 2012
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North Korea gears up for anniversary, rocket launch
With only days to go before launching a satellite to mark the centenary of its late founder Kim Il-sung’s birth, North Korea held a series of lavish events to celebrate the completion of power plants, factories and buildings, news reports said.North Korea has said it will launch Kwangmyongsong-3 some time between April 12 and 16, in celebration of the 100th year of Kim’s birth on April 15. The launch is part of moves to declare 2012 the year when North Korea becomes a “power state.”The North’s K
April 8, 2012